


Feelings Are Difficult

by Windian



Category: Tales of Berseria
Genre: Gen, fun with my favourite murder family, valentine's day fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 11:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9722324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windian/pseuds/Windian
Summary: Laphicet misunderstands the purpose of Valentine's Day. Naturally, it's Magilou's fault.





	

Phi had been behaving... suspiciously all morning.

When Velvet caught him skulking around the prison and asked him what he was doing, he'd gone red as a tomato. Magilou had laughed and said the boy had clearly reached _that age_ , or some other garbage, and Laphicet had high tailed it.

Witchy McWitcherton had told her to be sensitive and keened on about the tender flower of youth. Velvet told her to shut the fuck up.

Well, whatever. It was clearly none of her business.

“You look more brooding than usual. And that's saying something.” Sitting on the stairs, Velvet glanced up to see Rokurou descending.

“I'm not brooding.”

“Fine, fine,” Rokurou said, holding his hands up defensively. “Did I say brooding? I meant, quietly contemplating.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes straight out of her head. “Call it whatever you want.”

He took a seat beside her, elbows up on his knees. “I'm gonna take a wild guess and imagine you're _not_ fretting over who to send a valentine to.”

“Valentine?” Her brow knotted together.

“Yeah, you know, today. It's a day where--”

She cut him off. “I know what valentine's day is.” Niko used to get worked up about it every year. Girls from the village would play _he loves me, he loves me not_ , plucking the petals from buttercups, threading daisy chains, slipping love notes into pockets. Velvet even received a few confessions herself, although they quickly found themselves tucked into the back of a draw. She had Laphi to worry about; she didn't have time for that kind of thing.

“I can't say I imagine my descent into daemonhood has attracted me any more suitors,” she told him, matter-of-fact.

“Hey, I don't know about that--”

“I'm _not_ fishing for sympathy,” she said.

To which he replied plainly, “Yeah, I know.”

The fact was, she had little interest in those kind of human dalliances as a human, and even less as a daemon. This wasn't some children's story where love could help smooth over the cracks of a broken heart. The fact was: her heart had been shattered into so many pieces there was no hope of ever putting it back together.

“Do you think daemons are even capable of love?” she asked.

“That's surprisingly philosophical, coming from you. But I think I'd need a good deal of sake to answer that question.”

“I'll pass.” She was pretty certain of the answer, at any rate. The shards of Rokurou's heart, like hers, were held together only by anger, and hate.

There was no room in that tattered mess for any kind of emotion like _love_.

 *

Phi was still acting strangely that afternoon, locking himself in one of the prison blocks with himself, Kurogane and Kamoana. By dinner time, it was clear the boy had something up his sleeve.

Eizen cooked sockeye salmon for dinner. Sat around the table in the Van Eltia, Velvet spied Phi fidgeting from across the table.

She'd had enough.

“Alright, Phi. Out of with it.”

He started in his seat. “Out with... um, what?”

“You've been acting strange all day. What's the matter?”

“Such moving concern,” sighed Magilou. “Delivered, as usual, with the delicate touch of a sledge hammer.”

Velvet shot her a glare full of knives, and a dozen other sharp tools.

“Uhm. Well. Nothing's wrong. I was just trying to decide on the right time...” Phi said.

“The right time for what?”

“Um. To give you this.”

From underneath the table, Laphicet retrieved a hand-wrapped present in chequered print, tied with a bow. “Happy valentine's day,” he said.

Velvet loosened the ribbon. Inside were shortbread biscuits, baked into little hearts. She stared at them. Everyone else around the table was staring too, unsure what to say. Apart from Magilou, who had a positively wicked smile brewing on her face. “Phi,” she said in a dead-pan voice, “you realise that valentine's day is just for cou--”

“Oh! And here's yours too, Eleanor.” He passed the bag over the table to the her, the bag identical apart from the white and gold print.

She flushed a deep rose colour. “Oh. Um. That's so sweet, Laphicet. But...”

“Wait. You got me and Eleanor both valentines's day gifts?” Velvet asked, shooting the exorcist a scathing look.

“What a little heartbreaker!” Magilou crooned.

Rokurou broke into guffaws. “You'll go far, kid!” he said, before Laphicet slid a third present across the table.

“And here's yours Rokurou! Happy valentine's day.”

That shut him up. “Uh. Thanks, kid... I guess?” he said.

Phi handed Eizen his, and with a wry kind of smile he took a bite of the one the shortbread biscuits. “Reminds me of the cookies my sister used to try baking for my birthday. Emphasis on _try_. These are considerably more edible.”

“Don't tell me you've got nothing for your favourite witch?” Magilou asked, and sheepishly Laphicet passed over her gift.

“Uh, of course not. I wouldn't forget you, Magilou,” he said, which must have taken a great deal of courage.

“Let me guess,” said Rokurou. “I get the feeling you're somehow behind this, Magilou.”

“Moi? What a baseless, instantiated piece of slander! I'm shocked.”

“So, is it?” Eizen asked.

“Well, sure,” she said.

It was a good thing the damned witch was sitting across the table from Velvet, so she couldn't throttle her.

“I don't understand,” said Laphicet. “Did I... do something wrong?”

Eizen cleared his throat. Spoke delicately, “You didn't do anything wrong. But, Valentine's day is a day traditionally celebrated by couples, who exchange gifts with one another. Or else a gift is given express romantic interest in a person. But I imagine Magilou told you differently.”

Phi coloured, going red straight up to his ears. “She... she said...”

“I told the kid you gave gifts to tell people you care about 'em. How is that a lie?” Magilou said.

“Well it's not what I'd call the truth, either—” said Rokurou, but he didn't get any further.

Throwing his chair back, Phi fled from the room.

Velvet's chair hit the floor, too. In several huge strides across the room she'd seized Magilou by the neck, hauling her into the hair. “Phi is not a _toy_ for you to play with,” she snarled.

“Hit... a nerve, have I?” the damned witch wheezed.

Velvet threw her back in her chair, hat askew. In the silence that had swallowed the room, Eleanor pressed her fingers together.

“Um, actually, I think it was kind of sweet.”

Rokurou laughed. “I never figured a daemon like me would get a valentine.”

Eizen held up a piece of shortbread and smiled. “Nor the Reaper. He's a good kid.”

“See? No harm done,” wheezed Magilou, massaging her windpipe.

“Fine,” said Velvet. “But mess with his feelings again, and I'll eat you.”

“Scout's honour!” Magilou said, swinging up into a messy salute. It didn't inspire much confidence.

She left the lot of them, and headed onto the deck to look for Phi.

 

Laphicet stood by the starboard bow, leaning out over the darkening water.

“Phi.”

He swung round, startled. “V-Velvet, um...”

She came to stand beside him, resting her elbows on the side of the ship. “You don't need to say anything. I know Magilou tricked you. I warned you to be careful of witches, didn't I?”

“You told me to be careful of daemons, too,” he said.

_Be more careful around me! I'm a daemon._

She swallowed. Clenched her hand into a fist, the same fist she'd used to choke the child with. “It's true. You should.”

“I feel really stupid,” he said, lowering his head. “There's so much I still don't know.”

“Of course you don't. You've only been free, and you've only been _you_ for just a few weeks. You wouldn't expect a baby to know everything about the world, would you?”

“Um... are you trying to make me feel better, Velvet?”

She turned her head away. Ugh. “Forget it. I'll get Eleanor. She's better at this kind of thing.”

She made to move, until a small hand wound its fingers around her own. “I want to talk to you,” he said.

“Why?” she asked, looking over Phi, at the dark inky sea.

“Magilou told me today was for giving gifts to people I cared about, so they would know how I feel. Feelings are... kind of difficult, so I thought it sounded like a good idea. Except, um, as soon as I sat down at the table I remembered you... can't actually taste anything.”

Velvet pulled out the chequered bundle. “You better take it, then.”

“You're... returning it?" He visibly shrunk.  Even his halo of bouncy curly hair seemed to wilt.

It made something twist inside her.  If she didn't know better, she would have called it her heart. 

She turned her head, fighting away the mutinous flush.  "Of course not. This is your Valentine's present,  that's all. Happy Valentine's day.” She pressed the biscuits into his hand, pulling her hand from his to firmly ruffle his hair.

He looked up at her, his eyes searching.

“Feelings are difficult,” she agreed, unable to meet his eye.

 

 


End file.
